Rigid sheaths for knives



March 7, 1967 B. B. BRUNOSSON ET AL 3,307,756

RIGID SHEATHS FOR KNIVES Filed April 5, 1966 INVENTOR5 3 .5 -Brwzzaaaara BYWM x Y? 1am ATTORNE X5 United States Patent 3,307,756 RIGID SHEATHS FOR KNIVES Bengt Bruno Brunosson, Eskilstuna, and Nils Arne Erkers, Stockholm, Sweden, assignors to Aktiebolaget Bahco, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Apr. 5, 1966, Ser. No. 540,349 Claims priority, application Sweden, Apr. 21, 1965, 5,190/65 8 Claims. (Cl. 224-2) The present invention relates to an arrangement in rigid sheaths which are intended for knives and which are remova-bly connected to a sheath-holder intended to receive said sheath. The invention is particularly intended for use with hunting knives where great demand is placed on a perpetually sharp edge.

For the purpose of keeping the edge of a knife sharp it has previously been suggested that one or more sharpening members be placed in the sheath opening or within the space occupied by the knife blade, said sharpening members sharpening the edge of the knife as it is inserted into the sheath. Such a sharpening method, however, has not fulfilled the requirements placed upon, for example, the hunting knife. Further, such sharpening methods do not allow certain portions of the blade to be sharpened, this is particularly true of the point of the knife which is usually that portion of the knife edge which needs sharpening more often, and the knife must consequently be sharpened along the whole of its length, which in a plurality of cases is neither necessary nor desirable. Another disadvantage with these known methods is that the material removed from the sharpening members remains in the sheath and after a while can lead to difliculties in inserting the knife into the sheath or render it totally impossible.

The purpose of the present invention is to remove the disadvantages apparent in earlier known arrangements of the above disclosed type and to produce a sheath, particularly intended for hunting knives, which is simple and sturdy and which fills all the requirements placed upon it, the invention being mainly characterized in that the sheath holder comprises a flat strip the width of which corresponds substantially to the width of the sheath, the length of said strip being at least equal to the length of said sheath and provided with one or more loops en gaging the sheath for the purpose of retaining the same, and that the side of the sheath which faces the fiat sheathholder strip is provided with a honing-stone securely connected to said sheath and substantially covering the whole of one side of the same. 7

By supplying the side of the sheath facing the sheathholder with a honing-stone, the edge of the knife,'after removing the sheath from the sheath holder, can be honed so that a sharp edge is obtained in a desired manner, i.e. a grinding effect is obtained contrary to the case in known arrangements where such devices are more concerned with a sharpening process where no metal is removed. Further, the risk of blocking and dirtying the interior of the sheath with metal dust from honing during insertion and withdrawal of the knife as in the prior art is eliminated. Also, since the sheath is formed with an open bottom, any foreign matter that does find its way into the sheath is easily removed.

Because the honing-stone faces the sheath-holder strip when the sheath is inserted in the sheath-holder, said stone serves the additional purpose of frictionally engaging said strip to maintain the sheath in position in said sheathholder. Furthermore, the honing-stone is advantageously protected against damage from without by the sheath itself, whereas at the same time the clothes of the wearer are also protected since the honing-stone engages only the sheath-holder strip.

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An additional feature of the invention is concerned with the fact that the sheath is tapered from top to bottom so that it may be inserted within the loops on the holder by making the top loop of such length to recieve the bottom end and firmly engage the top end of said sheath. When desirable, a bottom loop may be provided to firmly engage the bottom end to provide additional support for the sheath and to increase the frictional forces between the strip and the sheath to retain said sheath in position.

The sheath-holder strip is preferably made of the usual flexible material such as leather, and said strip is folded over on itself for additional strength. In addition, this folded over portion forms a mounting eye for the holder to he slipped over a belt or the like for carrying. It is pointed out that a button-like projection may be provided on the strip for engagement over the upper edge of the sheath to further insure that the sheath is not inadvertently dislodged or removed while the knife is being carried or when the knife is being withdrawn from the sheath for use. To retain the knife within the sheath when it is not is use, there are provided peripherally spaced resilient shoulders in the insert opening at the top of the sheath.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a knife sheath and sheath-holder of a construction which has the resultant advantages set forth above.

It is another and more specific object of the invention to provide a rigid sheath that carries its own honing-stone for sharpening a knife, which honing-stone serves the dual purpose of frictionally retaining said sheath in its holder.

Still other objects and advantagesof the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein we have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by me of carrying out my invention. As .will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows in perspective a complete hunting knife,

i.e. a knife with associated sheath and sheath-holder;

FIG. 2 shows the sheath-holder also in perspective; and

FIG. 3 shows in perspective and partly in section the sheath with associated honing-stone.

The reference numeral 1 in the drawing indicates the sheath, the groove receiving the knife blade, as can be seen from FIG. 3, extends completely throughout the sheath so as to enable the interior of said sheath to be flushed clean. The insert opening of the sheath groove is provided with guide shoulders 4 for the purpose of guiding and retaining the knife 3 in the inserted position, said guide shoulders resiliently engaging the lower end of the knife handle. One side of the sheath is provided with a honing-stone 5 which substantially covers all of said side and which is secured to said sheath in some suitable manner.

The sheath 1 is intended to be normally retained in a sheath holder which comprises a flat strip 6 of flexible material such as leather corresponding in width to the width of the sheath, said strip extending from the lower end of the sheath upwards and at least somewhat past the upper end of the knife inserted into the sheath. As shown in the drawing, the strip 6 is folded Over on itself for additional strength, with the folded over portion at the upper end of the sheath-holder serving to form a mounting eye for said holder to receive, for example, a belt. One or more loops 7, in the present case two in number, firmly engage said sheath so that the honingstone on the back of said sheath 1 is firmly held against the front face of said strip 6 whereby said sheath 1 is retained in position by the frictional engagement between said honing-stone 5 and said strip 6; it being understood that the inherent surface properties of the honing-stone 5 are such as to give it a relatively high coefiicient of friction.

Since the sheath 1 is intended to be mounted in the sheath-holder with the side carrying the honing-stone turned towards the flat strip 6, said stone is protected against damage from without. The strip 6 is provided with a button-like projection 8, for the purpose of preventing the sheath from being inadvertently removed from the holder when the knife is withdrawn, said projection being so positioned that when the sheath is mounted in the holder the projection engages behind the upper edge of said sheath. Further, the sheath-holder strip is provided in the proximity of the upper end with a strap 9 which extends between the two layers of the folded over strip 6 and is adapted to lock the knife in position in the sheath, see FIG. 1.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the sheath 1 is tapered from top to bottom substantially along its entire length, and the upper loop 7 is of such a length as to firmly engage the top of said sheath to perform its holding function. Similarly, the bottom loop 7 is of such a length as to firmly engage the narrow bottom end of the sheath and it will be realized that because of this taper the sheath 1 can be inserted through the top loop 7 for positioning in the sheath holder.

In this disclosure, there is shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, but as aforementioned, -it is to be understood that the invention is capable of various changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept a expressed by the accompanying claims.

We claim:

1. The combination of a substantially rigid sheath adapted to receive a knife, said sheath having a honingstone securely fastened to the back of said sheath and substantially covering said back, and a holder for removably receiving said sheath, said holder comprising a generally flat strip substantially corresponding to the width of said sheath, the length of said strip being at least substantially equal to the length of said sheath, and at least one loop connected to said strip for firm engagement around said sheath so that said honing-stone is firmly held against said strip whereby said sheath is retained in position by the frictional engagement between said honing stone and said strip.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sheath is tapered from top to bottom substantially along its entire length and said loop is of such a length as to receive the narrow bottom end of said sheath and firmly engage the wide top end of said sheath.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein is provided an additional loop connected to said strip to firmly engage the narrow bottom end of said sheath.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said strip is formed of flexible material and folded over on itself along substantially its entire length for additional strength, the folded over portion of said strip serving to form a mounting eye for said holder.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein is further provided a strap adapted for firmly engaging around the handle of the knife, said strap extending between the layers of the folded over strip.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein a projection is provided on said strip to engage behind the upper edge of said sheath when said sheath is inserted through said loop so as to aid in retaining said sheath against inadvertent removal from said holder.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sheath is formed with an open bottom to allow the easy removal of foreign matter.

8. The combination of claim 1 wherein the insert opening at the top of said sheath is provided with peripherally spaced resilient guide shoulders to engage and retain the knife in said sheath.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,297,008 3/1919 Pommer 30-138 1,605,359 11/1926 Louret. 1,754,526 4/1930 Rittler.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

F. E. WERNER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. THE COMBINATION OF A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID SHEATH ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A KNIFE, SAID SHEATH HAVING A HONINGSTONE SECURELY FASTENED TO THE BACK OF SAID SHEATH AND SUBSTANTIALLY COVERING SAID BACK, AND A HOLDER FOR REMOVABLY RECEIVING SAID SHEATH, SAID HOLDER COMPRISING A GENERALLY FLAT STRIP SUBSTANTIALLY CORRESPONDING TO THE WIDTH OF SAID SHEATH, THE LENGTH OF SAID STRIP BEING AT LEAST SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE LENGTH OF SAID SHEATH, AND AT LEAST ONE LOOP CONNECTED TO SAID STRIP FOR FIRM ENGAGEMENT 